By Jake Tiernan: Dillian Whyte says he expects his rematch with Anthony Joshua next month to be a “great fight” that will entertain the fans on August 12th when they meet at the O2 Arena in London.
Dillian (29-3, 19 KOs) states that it’s taken him eight years to finally get the rematch with the former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua because he was “bad for business.”
In the end, it was Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) that made the decision to choose Whyte for his summer fight rather than use another heavyweight. They could live to regret their decision.
Whyte says he’s still learning & improving his game under coach Buddy McGirt, who has made adjustments to fix the flaws in his game since taking over as his trainer.
In Whyte’s last fight against Jermaine Franklin, we saw him using his boxing skills for the first eleven rounds last November.
In the twelfth, it was the old Whyte that fans have come to know, as he went after Franklin, staggering him and having him out on his feet as the fight ended.
If Dillian had fought like that earlier in the contest, he would have knocked Franklin out in the first two rounds.
Whyte still improving
“Because listen, I want to progress. I don’t want to [have a rematch clause],” said Dillian Whyte to DAZN Boxing when asked why he didn’t want a rematch clause for his August 12th fight against Anthony Joshua.
“If it’s a good fight, we can do a rematch anyway, regardless. I don’t want to be contracted with and tied down. Imagine having a good fight against AJ, and he says, ‘You’re going to wait eight months for me,’ and then I can’t do nothing.”
It’s understandable why the hard-hitting Whyte rejected having a rematch clause in the contract for his fight with AJ.
For instance, if Whyte wins on August 12th, he could wind up waiting eight months or longer for the rematch with Joshua instead of being able to move on and make even more money.
The fight that Dillian wants is against Deontay Wilder in December. Can Whyte swap places with Joshua if he beats him? It’s possible the Saudis might fancy the idea of using Whyte as the opponent for former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder in their card in Saudi Arabia later this year.
“Buddy [McGirt] is a good guy. He doesn’t try to change too much. He’s always asking me questions, saying, ‘Why did you do that move?’ And then I say, ‘I did it because I felt like it.’ He says, ‘Alright, that can work, but don’t lean so much to the left. When he goes that way, try and come back this way. Try and come back quicker. Stay a bit lower.’
“It’s very little fine details I wish I had years ago. I start to go back to school again,” said Whyte.
Will McGirt significantly improve Whyte’s game for him to beat Joshua? If so, that would be a massive victory for the ‘Body Snatcher’ Whyte.
Beating Joshua would lead to a trilogy clash between them that will likely pull in a ton of PPV buys. Fans will want to see if Whyte can finish off Joshua’s career, which is already hanging by a thread with his two losses in his last three fights.
“You’re last fight [with Joshua] was in 2015. How are you a different fighter, a better fighter, and the same for him? Is he a better fighter?” said Darren Barker.
“We’re both more mature and experienced, obviously, and we’re much more calm and in a different place,” said Whyte. “We’re also upping our game and still improving and still getting better as a fighter. We still have a lot left in the tank.
“We both feel we can beat each other. That’s the most important thing. We both feel like we can knock each other out. Don’t let this calmness fool you,” said Whyte.
Obviously, Joshua is convinced that he can beat Dillian again because if he had doubts, there’s no way on earth that he would have selected him. According to Hearn, the Saudis have said that if Joshua loses to Whyte, his fight with Deontay Wilder won’t happen. That’s potentially $60 million down the drain for Joshua.
“How is your mindset in this one compared to the first one?” said Barker. “When you first fought him in the pros, there was this sense of invincibility about AJ. He was knocking everybody out and looking o dangerous, but now you’ve seen there are weaknesses; he can be hurt. Is there going to be a different mindset going in?”
“I’ve always felt the weaknesses from the first fight. I went into that fight with an injury and clocked him. It didn’t go as planned. His weaknesses, they’re going to be working on that. So I have to look for something else,” said Whyte.
Dillian fought Joshua with an injured left shoulder in 2o15, and he had surgery shortly after the fight to repair the problem. Whether Whyte has the same power in his left hook that he once had is open for debate.
“Some fighters get up for fights, and they can fight 100 times, and it’s going to be war. Then they can fight another 100 guys and look like s**t against them. If we fight 100 times, win, lose, or draw, it’s going to be a great fight,” said Whyte about Joshua.
“Why did it take so long to get this second fight against AJ? I know you wanted it straight after the first fight. You were begging for it. Eight years, it’s taken for you guys to get back in the ring,” said Ade Oladipo.
“Business, they know I’m dangerous to business,” said Whyte on why he couldn’t get the rematch with Joshua after their fight in 2015. “AJ wanted to do what he wanted to do. Eddie [Hearn] didn’t want this fight. AJ wanted the fight because Eddie Hearn is a businessman, and he knows the business.”
“Why did AJ want it?” said Ade.
“Because he wants to prove that he’s still a dog,” said Whyte in his theory on why Joshua chose to fight him again. “That’s good because that might work in my favor.”
